


Somewhere only we know

by PrincessClemi



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Swanfire - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 13:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3693917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessClemi/pseuds/PrincessClemi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story is set right after Pan's curse, and Rumplestilskin's death, when Regina is taking everyone back to the Enchanted Forest, except for Henry & Emma. She has erased their memories of everything related to Storybrooke, and created new ones where they had a happy life together. Except something unexpected happens when the curse taking everyone back is set...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somewhere only we know

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not saying any more in the summary, because I don't want to spoil the first chapter! As you probably guessed from the tags, Swanfire is my life and I wanted to write them a story (which probably won't be the only one... But anyway let's start with this one!) I don't know how often I will be updating, and that probably won't be often, but here it is, and I hope you like it!

He was holding Emma in his arms. It was the first time ever since she had told her secret in the cave, and freed him from Pan. So many things had happened after this. They had found Henry, and taken everyone back to Storybrooke. But then Pan had switched bodies with Henry. His precious son. They had had to fight him one last time. And finally his father had decided to sacrifice himself for everyone. How unexpected of him. Now they were both gone, and Belle was brokenhearted. But Neal didn't feel anything. These past days, he had become closer to his father, but the word father still felt weird to him. Rumplestlilskin had never been a father to him since he had become the Dark One. Since he had left him go alone to a Land Without Magic. But then, he had found him again. Years later. He had tried to earn forgiveness, and Neal was ready to forgive. But now he was gone forever.

The only way to avoid big trouble and undo Pan's curse was to leave Storybrooke. But leaving Storybrooke also meant he had to leave Emma and Henry. Once again, he would be alone. But what broke his heart even more was that Emma wouldn't remember him. That is, she would remember the last time she saw him before coming back to Storybrooke. She would only remember him as the man who left her behind, who left hor go to jail instead of him, and who never contacted her again. The man who left her with nothing but a child to raise alone. Neal stil wasn't able to forgive himself for that. It was the most painful decision of his life. But it has been worth it. Except now that Emma and Henry's memories were going to be erased, he was not sure taking this decision was worth it.

When she had showed up in his life for the second time, it had been such a shock. August had told him she had arrived to Storybrooke and broken the spell. Knowing she was doing well had made him happy. At this moment, his life wasn't as messy as it used to be. But he hadn't told him about Henry. Meeting his son had been such a wonderful thing. Even if he hadn't been there in the past eleven years, he wanted to be there, right here, right now. He wanted to spend time with his son. He wanted to give him memories that made up for the fact he had left them behind. He wanted to be a good dad. Or at least, have a chance.

The moment Emma had showed up in New York, he had known his life was going to change. And finally, they had been able to talk together. A lot of shit had happened, but there was still something between them. He could feel it. And he knew Emma did too, even if she was too scared too admit it. They had lost each other too many times. They had good memories, burried under the painful ones. And they just needed to make more.

But now he was going to lose her again. He was going to lose everything, the moment Regina cast the curse. He just hoped she would give wonderful memories to Emma and Henry. And he couldn't help wanting to be a nice memory too, even if he knew it was impossible.

The moment he left her, he was going to be alone. He had always been solitary, but now that he had seen something else, he knew this was going to be hard. And he was so used to the Land Without Magic... Going back to the Enchanted Forest had never been a thing he wanted. He had never considered it. It wasn't his home, and nor was Neverland, even if he had spent so many years there. His home... The only moment he had felt home was with Emma. Emma was his home. Emma and Henry.

He was holding Emma in his arms, and wishing it would never end. A tear rolled down his cheek, and Emma caught it with her finger. She had been crying too, but she obviously didn't want him to know, so he acted as if he hadnt seen it.

Regina sighed, and let go of Henry. The boy ran up towards them and hugged them both.

_We're family_ , he said.  _And we always find each other. Remember grandma and grandpa. They found each other through the sleeping curse. Nothing can stop us._

As usual, Henry was being the wisest of them all. He would miss him so much... Knowing that the boy wouldn't even remember him really hurt.

_It's time to go_ , said Regina.

Knowing that she too was losing everything gave Neal the last bit of strenght he needed. He let go of Emma, and kissed Henry on the forehead.

_See you soon,_ _boy._

He looked at Emma straight in the eye.

_I love you_ , he said.

_I'll miss you_ , she replied. _May we meet again._

They both got in the car, and she started driving, while Henry waved through the window.

The road took a turn, and the car disappeared. And then they were gone.

According to the saying, you only know how much you love someone once you let them go. And it hurt. It hurt so much. Neal was tired of letting Emma go.

Regina grabbed everyone's attention. She looked tired. They were all leaving something behind.

_Okay, it's time to go now. You all know we don't have a choice. I'm just going to cast the curse and in a moment we will be back to the Enchanted Forest._

She cast the spell, and a purpleish smoke engulfed them, but it soon disappeared. Neal looked around. He was alone. He was still in Storybrooke, or rather, what was left of it. He was standing alone, in the middle of an empty road. And he had nowhere to go.

**Author's Note:**

> Personally I hate Neal's Enchantes Forest clothes so I just thought... What if he never went back? And this is how the idea of this story was born. Please do leave me some comments, I want to know what you think of it!


End file.
